With any mind machine, if you selected a session with a target frequency in the low alpha or theta range, you should feel a change in awareness within a few minutes. Many people report a floating feeling. Your attention may start to wander as your thoughts become less linear and logical. You may find yourself in a lucid dream complete with sights, sounds and feelings. Some people, auditory types, often hear words in the pulsed sounds. This indicates theta activity and heightened creativity. Because your sense of time changes during the session, it may seem as if you have slept. If you felt tired before starting, you may fall asleep during the session or when it ends. Usually, you will feel a definite difference between your state before the session and how you feel during the session. This state should linger for a while after the session ends.
Most programs start out in the beta frequency range (13-40 Hz.) to match and pace our waking state rhythm and gradually slow (ramp) to the target range. The initial phase may seem so exciting with the vivid colors and kaleidoscopic patterns you see in your "mind's eye" that you may doubt that you will slow down and let go of the mind chatter and tension. This fast, almost psychedelic phase passes quickly as the pulsing slows. Most users find that within a session or two, they easily and automatically follow the changing frequencies and patterns into the desired state.
Some users may not find the first sessions very entraining. This happens
when you remain analytical, excited at the novelty of the experience, or
resistant to letting go. Highly controlled individuals often lose
awareness and feel as if they have gone to sleep, rather than shifting
with awareness to the non-linear, dreamy state. Letting go of control
(neither trying to help nor prevent the experience) stimulates the
production of alpha and theta rhythms. In the beginning, most users will
benefit from simply "going with the flow" even if that includes losing
awareness through most of the session. These rhythms affect the body/mind
profoundly with lasting effects even without the user's conscious
participation. Even though, at times, you may notice little apparent
entrainment (frequency following response), you may still experience a
shift in mood, attitude or focus. Many users will notice immediate,
spontaneous changes in their attitudes and behavior. Others may need to
have regular sessions for a number of weeks before the desired results
appear. Once the balancing and stress-reducing effects of mind machines
become engrained, the devices remain useful for power naps, creativity
boosting, and accelerated learning.